Ms GILLARD (1:54 PM)
—In the adjournment debate on Thursday in this House, the member for La Trobe claimed to represent the largest metropolitan electorate in Victoria. It is not my intention to encourage a `mine is bigger than yours' style debate in this House; I will leave that to those male members of this House who have already made it an art form. But I think we should note for the record that I represent, in the form of the electorate of Lalor, the largest metropolitan electorate in Victoria, being some 653 square kilometres. The member for La Trobe noted that electorates like his still struggle to attract doctors, dentists and other health professionals and that electorates like his have problems with higher education infrastructure. My electorate shares these concerns, though perhaps the member for La Trobe might like to return to this House and explain why these things continue to be an issue as we enter the sixth year of the Howard government.